Irish Slang
Astonish your friends & confound your enemies by the occasional use of guaranteed 100% contemporary Irish slang!
A
B C D
E F G
H I J
K L M
N O P
Q R S
T U W
Y
| A | |
| A drop, a glass, a spot, a touch |
A drink (and NOT a small one.) |
| Acting the maggot | playing around |
| Ages | long time |
| Amaddon | A fool (sometimes cod or wanker, Never eejit) |
| Amnt' I? | Aren't I? (a leftover 18th century Anglicism) |
| Any Use? | any good? |
| Aul' doll | wife (sometimes "the moth," but never "herself") |
| Aul' fella | never "himself" |
| Arse | backside |
| Arseways | complete mess (I did it all arseways) |
| Artist | person getting social security (drawing the dole) |
| B | back to top |
| Babby | little child - baby |
| Bad dose | bad illness |
| Bag of Taytos | packet of potato chips/crisps |
| Bags | bad, messy job (see hames) |
| Banjaxed | broken, useless, tired |
| Barn brack | Halloween cake |
| Basser | a haircut |
| Bazz | pubic hair |
| Belt | hit, assault |
| Be wide | be careful |
| Bird | girl, girlfriend |
| Black | crowded |
| Blackguard | person that is doing no good |
| Black Stuff | Guinness |
| Blather | talk |
| Bloody | used mostly for strengthening an adjective |
| Blow | treat ("I'm blowing for dinner") |
| Bog | toilet, restroom |
| Bog | country area/ piece of land that once was a lake |
| Bogey | snot |
| Bogtrotter | country person |
| Bold | naughty |
| Bollocks | stupid/somebody one doesn't like |
| Bolloxed | very drunk |
| Bolt | run fast |
| Boozer | pub |
| Broim | "fart" in Gaelic |
| Culchie | a city dweller's name for a country person |
| Diddies | breasts |
| Divil | devil |
| Dodder | waste time |
| Dodgy | suspect/mechanically impaired |
| Donkey's Years | a long time |
| Dope | idiot |
| On the Doss | playing truant |
| Dosser | lazy person |
| Dote | cute person, usually a baby |
| Drawers | underwear, usually ladies |
| Dry Shite | boring person |
| Dummy | pacifier |
| Dump (taking a) | excrete |
| E | back to top |
| Eat the head off | Attack verbally |
| Eejit | idiot |
| F | back to top |
| F-word | used freely, mostly for strengthening an adjective |
| Fag | cigarette |
| Fair play! | well done! |
| Feck | used instead of the other F word |
| Fella | Male person, also used for boyfriend |
| Fib | a lie |
| Fifty | stood-up (I got a fifty) |
| Fine thing/fine bit of stuff | Attractive/good looking person |
| Fla/Flah | Attractive/good looking person |
| Flah'ed out | very tired |
| Flicks | movies |
| Flitters | in tatters, shabby |
| Fluthered | very drunk |
| Follier-upper | a serial |
| Foostering | wasting time |
| Fry | fried breakfast (sausage, bacon, eggs and black & white pudding) |
| Full shilling | mentally competent (He's not the full shilling) |
| G | back to top |
| Gaff | house |
| Gardi | policeman |
| Gas | funny |
| Gawk | stare |
| Gee-Eyed | very drunk |
| Get off with (someone) | make out, kiss |
| Gift | superb |
| Git | horrible person |
| Give Out | scold |
| Gob | mouth (Shut you gob!) |
| Gobdaw | idiot |
| Gobshite | talkative boring moron. An idiot |
| Gobsmacked | very surprised |
| Go-car | baby's pushchair |
| Gollier | a big, fat spit of phlegm |
| Gone in the head | mad, crazy |
| Go way outta that! | indicating skepticism |
| Goor | man, guy (A pub greeting: "How're you goor?") |
| Gowl | idiot |
| Grand | fine, lovely |
| Gurrier | hooligan |
| Gut | stomach |
| H | back to top |
| Hames | mess |
| Hammererd | very drunk |
| Hard Neck | lack of respect |
| Hardchaw, Hardman | rough, tough person |
| Header | mad, crazy person |
| Head the ball | idiotic person |
| Heel | the first or last slice of a loaf of bread |
| Hickey | a love bite |
| High babies | senior infants' school |
| Holliers | holidays/vacations |
| Holy show | embarrassing exhibition |
| Hooley | party/celebration |
| Hoor | prostitute |
| Hop | playing truant from school |
| Horse's hoof | embellished story |
| Hot Press | drying cupboard |
| Howya | hello- salutation |
| Hump, the | sulking |
| Hump off | go away, leave me alone |
| I | back to top |
| I will in me ring | I will not! |
| I am in me wick | I am not! |
| Is the tea wet yet? | Is the tea ready? |
| J | back to top |
| Jackeen | a country person's name for somebody that lives in Dublin; a city slicker |
| Jacks | toilet, restroom |
| Jaded | fatigued/very tired |
| Jammers | very crowded, busy |
| Jammy | lucky |
| Janey Mack! | Gosh |
| Jar | A pint |
| Jaysus! | Jesus |
| Juicy | pretty |
| K | back to top |
| Kip, to have a | short siesta, rest |
| Knackered | fatigued, very tired |
| Knick-knacking | ringing a doorbell and running away |
| Knobs | breasts |
| Knockers | breasts |
| L | back to top |
| Langers/langered | drunk |
| Lashing | raining heavily |
| Lay off! | leave me alone, stop it! |
| Legging (it) | running fast |
| Letting on | pretending |
| Local, the | the nearest pub |
| Locked | very drunk |
| Lolly/ice lolly | Popsicle |
| Low babies | junior infants' school |
| M | back to top |
| Ma | mother |
| Maggot | unpleasant fellow |
| Maggot (Stop acting the maggot) | Stop playing around! |
| Manky | very dirty |
| Mary Hick | old-fashioned female |
| Mauser | A large woman |
| Mentaller | crazy person |
| Me ould segotia, me ould flower | Terms of endearment |
| Messages | shopping, groceries |
| Messing | playing around |
| Milling | fighting |
| Mitch | bunk school |
| Mollycoddle | a mama's boy |
| Mortified | embarrassed |
| Mot | girlfriend |
| Motherless | drunk |
| Mouldy | drunk/ rotten |
| Murder | difficult |
| Mushies | magic mushrooms |
| N | back to top |
| Napper | the head, the brain |
| Nappy | Diaper |
| Neck | nerve cheek, chutzpah |
| Nickser, Nixer | a job done with no tax paid on wages |
| Nip | nude |
| O | back to top |
| Odds | loose change |
| Off the drink | abstaining from drinking alcohol |
| Off your nut | mad, crazy |
| Ole Lady/ole wan | mother |
| Ole Man/ole fella | father |
| On the never never | On Hire purchase |
| Ossified | drunk |
| P | back to top |
| Paralytic | very drunk |
| Perishing | freezing |
| Pictures | movies |
| Piss in the Beds | dandelions |
| Pissed off | angry/annoyed |
| Piss up | a night of big drinking |
| Plastered | very drunk |
| Plonker | idiot |
| Polluted | very drunk |
| Poteen/Poitin | illegal Irish spirit/drink |
| Pram | stroller/pushchair |
| Press | closet, cupboard |
| Puck | slap in the face |
| Pull your socks up | Get to work/get busy |
| Puss Face | bad-tempered person |
| Q | back to top |
| Queer hawk | peculiar person |
| R | back to top |
| Rapid | amazing |
| Rashers | bacon slices |
| Reddener | blush |
| Red neck | a country person |
| Reef | beat up |
| Ride | an attractive person, to have intercourse |
| Root | look for |
| Rosie Lee | tea |
| Rubber | eraser |
| Ructions | Loud arguing or commotion |
| Runners | trainers, everyday sports shoes |
| Runs | diarrhea |
| S | back to top |
| Sap | weak/fragile person |
| Scab | a person who constantly borrows |
| Scab | the hard outer part of a healed wound |
| Scallion | spring onion |
| Scalped | to get a short haircut |
| Scanger | ignorant female |
| Scarlet | blushing |
| Scatter | run away from something |
| Scram! | go away! |
| Scratch | social security, dole |
| Scratcher | bed |
| Scrawbed | Scratched by fingernails |
| Scrubber | female of low morals |
| Scutters | diarrhea |
| Shag, to | to have intercourse with |
| Shagged | fatigued/ very tired |
| Shattered | fatigued/ very tired |
| Shenanagans | different things going on |
| Shlossed | very drunk |
| Shook | Pale, ill, scared |
| Shorts | liquor drinks (spirits) - shots |
| Shower of savages | a riotous crowd |
| Slagging | making fun of someone |
| Slapper | female of low morals |
| Slash | urinate |
| Sleeveen | sly person |
| Snapper | child, baby |
| Snobby Weather! | Ignoring me? |
| Snog, Shift | to make out, kiss |
| Snug | pub booth (usually fitting only 3/4 people) |
| Sound | really nice |
| Specky Four-Eyes | person who wears glasses (child's nickname) |
| Spuds | potatoes |
| Squealer | a person who tells stories to get another in trouble |
| Stop the lights! | Really?! |
| Stocious | very drunk |
| Strand | beach |
| Suckin' diesel | having a good time |
| Sweets | candy |
| T | back to top |
| Thick | stupid /unintelligent |
| Throwing Shapes | Showing off |
| Tip | unclean, messy place |
| Tool | idiot |
| Trap | mouth |
| Twisted | very drunk |
| Twistin' hay | means you're starting trouble, usually in a playful way |
| U | back to top |
| Up the pole | pregnant |
| Up the yard! | Go away! |
| Up to ninety | near boiling point, ready to explode |
| W | back to top |
| Wagon | ugly female |
| Wanker | a person you don't like |
| Wet the tea | make tea |
| Whist | keep quiet |
| Wrecked | tired |
| Y | back to top |
| Y-Fronts | Men's briefs |
| Yonks | a long time |
| Your hole (to get) | to have sexual intercourse |
The Irish have contributed thousands of books and even a few actual words to the English Language. Perhaps you've been speaking Irish all your life without knowing it!
| blarney [n. or v. BLAR-nee] More than just the name of an Irish village, blarney also means smooth, flattering talk. Near synonyms include flattery, cajolery, sweet talk, fawning, and blandishment. Blarney is a word from the late 18th century. It is said that the owner of the Blarney Castle in County Cork, Ireland, Cormac McCarthy didn't want to peacefully surrender his castle to Queen Elizabeth in 1602. He prolonged the surrender with flattery, persuading those involved to delay the take over for month after month. Blarney came to be associated with persuasively soft speech. The verb sense of blarney is to flatter or deceive with blarney. There is a stone there, That whoever kisses, Oh, he never misses To grow eloquent. 'Tis he may clamber To a lady's chamber, Or become a member Of Parliament. |
Click HERE to Read more
on the Blarney Stone
More Irish Words
|
Ballyhoo |
A carnival barker's flamboyant "come-on"; hence, advertising & publicity in general. It is derived, it would seem, from the name of the Irish town of Ballyhooly - but nobody knows why. |
|
Bard |
A poet. The bardoi were the highly regarded (and feared) minstrels of the Celts, tribal historians as well as court entertainers. |
|
Biddy |
1. a chick or hen, from the Gaelic bideach, meaning very small; 2. a female servant; 3. an elderly, gossipy woman. Both 2 & 3 are derived from the common diminutive of the Irish named Bridget. |
| Celtic | 1. A group of Indo-European languages including Irish, Scottish, Gaelic, Welsh, Breton, etc., surviving now in Ireland, the Scottish Highlands, Wales, and Brittany. 2. Of the Celts |
| Hubbub | A commotion. Derived from the ancient Irish war cry abu! |
| Irish Kiss | American; a slap in the face |
| Irish lemon | a potato |
| Keen (NOT Robert Earl!) | A loud wail. In Irish caoiane is the term given to a weeping lamentation, a funeral song. At one time, professional "keeners" were hired to perform at Irish wakes. |
| Kelt | African-American slang term for a white woman, or light skinned black woman. From Celt, that is Irish |
| Kibosh | To veto, squelch, put an end to. Not, as widely assumed, a yiddishism, but from the Gaelic cie bais, "the cap of death" |
| Limerick | A five-line verse, almost invariably obscene. Its connection to the Irish county and city of the same name is obscure. |
| Lynch law | Mob law, followed by swift execution. James Lynch, a 15th century mayor of Galway, hanged his own son. |
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